


Cat and Mouse

by ThymeSprite



Series: Nagging the Avengers [2]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Brother-Sister Relationships, F/M, Loki Does What He Wants, Mischief, Science, Steve Needs a Hug, Tony Being Tony
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-02
Updated: 2015-09-02
Packaged: 2018-04-18 16:40:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,907
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4712984
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThymeSprite/pseuds/ThymeSprite
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Catherine Stark has a visitor she desperately wants to get rid of as he interferes with her daily routine.<br/>So being a Stark she turns to science...and snarky replies.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Cat and Mouse

**Author's Note:**

  * For [magicdrusilla](https://archiveofourown.org/users/magicdrusilla/gifts).



> This oneshot is, kind of, based on [this prompt](http://dirtymarvelimagine.tumblr.com/post/125502718072/imagine-loki-kissing-down-the-back-of-your-neck).
> 
> Moreover, I am starting a new little series "Nagging the Avengers".  
> Ideas for Tony and Thor are there, but feel free to prompt me if you want to.

Doing her best not to giggle, Cat snuck up on Vision, hoping that his conversation with Steve would be enough to distract him from her presence. Apparently it was, for neither of them had spotted her and she then poked Vision with the tip of her pen.

“Miss Stark, I do ask you to please not do this anymore.”, Vision addressed her, somewhat exasperatedly, but Cat grinned up at him, “Why? C’mon, explain it to me! Do you feel pain, are you annoyed?”

“You are remarkably similar to your brother.”, Vision stated and she pouted at that, playfully accusing him, “I am nothing like that egotistical jerk!”

“You are much prettier, that’s a given.”, Steve chimed in and as she spun around and smiled at him, he cleared his throat, awkward and ashamed as always, then Vision added, “You are not strong enough to cause me physical pain, Miss Stark, however, I find myself growing tired of your antics.”

“Experiments.”, Cat rectified, “I am conducting experiments.”

“Is that so?”, Vision enquired, “Then please, find another object to study.”

“You are no fun.”, she stated an accusation and Vision blinked once, an action she was absolutely sure he had done deliberately as he did not need to blink, but had just wanted to non-verbally express his exasperation – remarkable what he had already learned from Steve - then Vision dead-panned, “I have been told so. By your brother.”

Cat pouted exasperatedly and sighed: “Well, then I’ll have to say you are great fun ‘cos I can’t, won’t, mustn’t agree with Tony.”

Steve gave her a smile for that, but when she winked at him, he turned away awkwardly. Cat then huffed and gave in: “Alright, Vision, I’m gonna review your data before my next experiment.”

“Then I will be sure to bury you in data, Miss Stark.”, was his reply and she frowned, “Oi. That’s no way of treating a lady. You tell him, Steve.”

“Ahem…”, Captain America was frozen in shock and Cat rolled her eyes at him, then shrugged and waved them goodbye, “See you boys!”

They really were no fun when they were this serious.

“Really, Rogers…”, Cat mumbled to herself, “Get your pretty butt in gear and ask me out already. This is the 21st century, but I don’t wanna have to ask you. Be a gentleman!”

But she knew he would not, probably not in another seventy years of his life he dreamed away, so instead of merely waiting, Cat decided to do something useful. Sure, she could have asked him out herself, but really, she did not want to determine who was wearing the pants in their relationship just yet. Where would be the fun in that, giving him a run for his money right away? No, she would have to wait.

But that certainly did not mean she could not have a little fun…or work, which was probably what her pesky brother would want her to do. So, huffing and puffing more than she actually felt like, she made her way to the workshop and then past it to the main computer, thinking that Tony was not all bad. It was just that she did absolutely not need to tell him that as there was no need to inflate his gigantic ego even more.

Grinning at the thought Cat opened the door, kind of missing Jarvis to keep her company while working on his programming and the general software-situation in the house or now, the new Avengers facility, but Vision was also much fun. That was if he was not serious, but Cat was determined to teach him something about having fun. He already had Jarvis’ sass, so the first step was already done.

When she entered the room, Cat was checking the tasks she had set herself for today on her tablet…when she suddenly froze in her steps and stared at the main console, disbelieving.

“What the f…?”, she began and the man at the console looked up, at tense smile on his pale lips.

“Hello, darling.”, Loki said, “Do not worry about me, I’ll be off in a second.”

“Like hell you’ll be off.”, Cat muttered and punched a few quick commands into her tablet. He was looking at very, very sensitive data over there, so the first thing she had to do was cut him off. A few quick swirls of her fingertips had done the job, so she then reached for the angry-red button on the wall that would set off the alarm, but she did not get the chance. Cool, slender fingers closed around her wrist and with widened eyes she found herself face to face with Loki.

“I would not do that if I were you, darling.”, he tutted, “See, I would have to break your wrist if you did that and we both do not want this to happen. It is a beautiful wrist after all…”

Saying that, he fingers kind of…caressed?… her wrist and Cat pulled it free with a jerk of her arm. Clicking his tongue in a reprimand, but with a smirk on his face, Loki grabbed her wrist again, but this time twisted it behind her back, effectively immobilising her and at the same time trapping her against his chest.

“Hmm.”, he then all but purred, “We do have quite the predicament here, love.”

“I’m not your love.”, she hissed, but he chuckled, “No? Well, you are standing awfully close to me. Are you sure about that?”

Cat tried to pull free, but to no avail, it only made him laugh. So she gave that up – for now – and glared at him: “You will regret this, Loki.”

“Will I?”, he asked, “Why, yes darling, I will. For I have to leave now and I cannot take you with me. At least not now.”

She stared at him for that and he smirked right in her face as he explained: “You see, love. If you were to disappear now, probably all of the Northern hemisphere would be looking for pretty, ingenious Catherine Agnes Stark.”

She had not expected him to know her name, her full name at that.

“Of course I know who you are, darling.”, Loki then smiled at her, “Tony Stark’s baby sister, the one girl all of the Avengers would protect with their lives. It would do me no good to take you with me now, when no one would know that it had been me.”

“Let me go and I’ll tell them all about it!”, Cat generously offered with a hiss, “Every detail, from how you grabbed me right down to your minty breath! I can do that for ya.”

Again he chuckled and, bastard, pulled her a bit closer: “Oh, you are a fiery one. I like that!”

Once again Cat struggled, but he only pulled his hold tighter, a hold that was almost an embrace now and that impression intensified when he put one finger under her chin and applied gentle pressure, just enough to make her look up at him.

“Alas, darling, I have to go.”, Loki then told her, “And I cannot have you tell that bunch of misfits calling themselves the Avengers that I was here.”

Cat’s eyes widened at that and fear shot through her like a bolt of lightning. Was this how she was to die?

She was not, she decided when Loki moved, but she was stunned by his actions. He kissed her. The bastard kissed her! Right on the lips, a quick but firm peck! Bastard!!

This time she struggled with even more force and she broke free, probably because he let her, but she did not care, she was furious.

“What the hell, L…!”, she tried to accuse him, but she could not say his name. She physically was not able to.

“L…?”, she made another attempt, but to no avail and Loki grinned, “I told you, darling, I cannot have you run off and proclaim my presence here. What, were you thinking I was going to kill you? Oh no, love, that would have been a terrible waste.”

Cat narrowed her eyes at him, but he grinned, that bastard even did a slight bow and then took his leave: “Ta ta for now, darling.”

“L…!”, she tried again, but he was gone, with a puff of smoke and a stupid smirk. And she could not speak his name.

Grumbling to herself, Cat sat down at the computer and for starters looked up what Loki had been checking on. The logs showed nothing too vital he had gotten his filthy hands on, but that reassured her only a little. But, that dealt with, she pondered on what he had done to her. Was she still able to talk at all?

“Tony can be a real jerk.”, she tried and then smiled, “Okay, that still works.”

That being established, she then tried to say all the names of the other Avengers and when that worked as well, she tried Loki’s name again. Nothing. This time she did not even manage the L, she just felt like chocking. So something else had to be found and she tried: “Thor’s little b…”

Brother had been the word she had been attempting, but it did not work. Same went for “The man who attacked New York”, for “the Reindeer” and even “that Frost Giant”. Every possible way to describe Loki that Cat could think of was impossible for her to say.

“But maybe…”, she mumbled to herself, opened an email to Tony and typed “I was just attacked by”, but that was the farthest she got. Her fingers just refused to move. Well, they moved alright when she started to type “fluffy bunnies”, but they refused to spell out “Loki”. That bastard…

“He’s vexed me!”, Cat growled and balled her hands to fists. She did not accept that the annoying reindeer should have bested her. So she jumped to the next idea, looked up a file about Thor, highlighted Loki’s name and said: “He just…”

But that was a far as she got. She could not say that he had just been here, with her, had put some sort of spell on her. She was helpless. And Cat hated that.

“I’ll have your ass for that, reindeer.”, she threatened the empty air, but then tried her best to push the anger away in order to get at least some work done. Her job would not do itself and as she could not really figure her predicament out on her own right now, she decided to ignore it for a while.

That “while” lasted for two days in which she had only come to the conclusion that it had to be magic he had put on her, some sort of hex. That was why on the second day she approached Thor: “Hey, nice to see you!”

“And you, Cat.”, he greeted her and enclosed her in one of his typical bear-hugs, “Good to see you alive and well. What can I do for you, my friend?”

Kick your brother’s ass, that was the first suggestion that came to Cat’s mind, but she knew that she would not be able to say the words, so instead she told him: “I have a request. Could you get me some Asgardian books about magic and hexes? Some books in a language I can understand or at least find a programme to translate them with?”

“I can certainly try.”, Thor nodded with obvious bewilderment in his features, “But pray tell me, why do you want to study magic?”

“Ahem…”, Cat had known that she should have prepared some sort of excuse, but her mind had been blank. Thankfully, she was a Stark, so improvising a believable lie had never been much of a problem: “I just thought it’s something we pesky Midgardians don’t really know much about. So I guess knowing a bit more about what is possible and what’s not wouldn’t hurt. Ya know?”

“You are very wise for someone of your young age.”, Thor complemented her, but Cat could only give him a tense smile as she asked, “So you will look for books?”

“I will have them ready for you on my next visit.”, Thor nodded and Cat added, “When will that be?”

His frown told her that she had made a mistake by asking that with such enthusiasm.

“Why are you so eager to know this, young lady Catherine?”, Thor asked, suddenly suspicious and Cat shrugged, “Do you know what dull tasks Tony has set me on lately? I had to recalibrate the flux-capacitor to the frequency of…”

“Alright.”, Thor nodded with a grin, “I will get the books for you and bring them to you in a few days. I cannot give you a more exact date.”

“That’s quite alright, thanks!”, Cat smiled and then got to the tips of her toes, but Thor still had to bend down so she could place a quick kiss on his cheek. Then she turned away and exhaled sharply, but then giggled to herself. What she had told him had been utter nonsense, but he had bought it nonetheless. What a loveable, mighty strong oaf he could be.

With a snort, she thought that Loki might have actually been impressed if he had witnessed their conversation. Thankfully, she had not seen him since the “incident” in the console room, but she was still angry, now more than ever because her “condition” had not improved at all. And asking Thor for books had only been her last resort after two days of an utterly fruitless search of the internet for any clues about magic and hexes. Sure, there was the whole Wiccan nonsense, but nothing substantial. Nothing. At. All. Zip, nada. Nothing!

Grumbling, Cat returned to her room to nevertheless continue the search, but she frowned when she entered. Something was… odd.

Looking around, she was under the distinct impression that someone had been here, she just did not know why. And when she spotted it, she involuntarily smiled. Flowers. Someone had actually placed flowers on her desk, right next to her laptop. Could they be from someone she hoped they would be from, Steve maybe?

“Keep dreaming, girl.”, she muttered as she started towards the desk, but then her steps grew slower until she stopped, asking herself, “And how on Earth would he have gotten in here…?”

A cold and very unpleasant feeling settled in her belly and she ran towards the flowers, even though she was terribly afraid to find her suspicion confirmed. Cat snatched up the bouquet and found the attached tag, written in green ink, reading: “Nice try, darling.”

“Bastard!”, she growled and found all her web-history erased. Well, no biggie, there had not been one useful site she had found, but oh she was angry. He had chosen the wrong gal to mess with. Alright, so the dozen pink roses were beautiful, but she would be damned if she allowed herself to be charmed by nonsense like that. So Cat chucked the bouquet, with ribbon, tag and everything, right in the bin, then resumed her search. Something useful had to turn up eventually.

But alas, it did not. Cat spent the next five days searching the web, the library of the nearest town and the entirety of the online bookshops known to her for anything, any scrap of useful information. Results? Pshaw, none.

Although every day, there was a fresh bouquet of flowers on her desk or, as of yesterday morning, next to her bed. Over night. That bastard had snuck into her room while she had been sleeping, had stood right next to her bed!

She was really, really angry. But she had stopped trashing the flowers as soon as she had found them, instead, she had started to give them to the employees of her brother. Really, the girls deserved some love that was not spiked with lewd “compliments” as her brother loved to call it. And every single one of them had liked the pink roses she had been handing out.

This morning, even a box of chocolates had made its way to her nightstand and for a moment, Cat contemplated chucking them in the bin right away.

“I bet you guys are spiked with laxatives or a love potion or some other crap.”

“I assure you, they are not.”, a voice startled her and when Cat turned around, she found herself face to face with that bastard again, but she gave him a smile despite her anger, “Oh, how nice of you to drop by, L…. See, I’d say your name, but I frigging can’t!”

“No need to curse, love.”, he smiled, “And no need to bare your teeth to me in the pretence of a smile. Don’t waste your energy to fight, for I will get a true smile from you.”

“Yeah?”, Cat asked mockingly, “Any idea when? I’m planning on a quarter past never.”

Loki chuckled at her comment, but Cat suddenly had an idea, so she started towards the door of her room. However, she was stopped when Loki somehow appeared right in front of her, blocking her way: “I would not do that, love.”

“Why? Because it could alert the Avengers to your presence and make them kick your butt to the curb?”

“No.”, Loki smirked at her, “Because you would only make a fool of yourself if you went out there to tell them I have visited you every night.”

“You make it sound as if I’d wanted that.”, Cat growled at him, “And as if anything at all had happened.”

“Oh, it will.”, Loki told her, but Cat blew raspberries at him and said, “Yeah, we’ll see about that. Now stop getting on my nerves.”

“But I do enjoy it.”, Loki sincerely said and Cat rolled her eyes at him, “Sure you do, but I have a job and a meeting with the Avengers in about five minutes. So, be a nice reindeer and get out of my way.”

With an inviting gesture Loki stepped aside and Cat scoffed: “What made you all compliant all of a sudden?”

“You asked nicely.”, Loki said and she chuckled, shaking her head, but Loki leaned conspiratorially close to her and murmured, “See, there is a hint of that smile I want to see.”

“Good luck with that.”, Cat told him and turned around to get her tablet. To her surprise, Loki did not do anything funny, so she actually looked around to check if he was still there. Smug bastard, he had waited for that and grinned, but when she grumbled to herself, he told her: “I do abide with my earlier suggestion. Do not try to alert the Avengers to my presence, as you put it, because they will not be able to see me or hear me.”

“So you’re my imaginary friend now?”, Cat asked and he seemed to think on it, then nodded, “I can be, if you want me to, darling.”

“No need.”, Cat denied his offer, “I already have enough egotistical jerks in my life, thanks.”

With that, she also grabbed the flowers and the chocolate, then made her way out of her room. Tony would roast her if she was too late to the meeting, because he had called it and that meant he would be on time for a change, just to make fun of all those who would not.

“Did you enjoy the flowers?”, Loki asked her and Cat had fully expected – or rather hoped – that he would be gone, but no, he was walking right beside her, but no one took any notice of him whatsoever. That smug bastard really knew how to use his magic.

“I didn’t as much as the other girls I gave them away to.”, Cat replied and she saw him frown, so she did her best to not smile brightly in his face at the satisfying annoyance she saw there, instead she even did one better, “They absolutely adored the pink roses.”

“You gave them away?”, he snarled and Cat nodded, grinning happily, “Of course! They really needed a pick-me-up, you know how bossy Tony can be. I mean, you had quite the run-in with him in New York, right? Form what I’m told, he handed your pretty butt to you on a silver platter.”

Loki growled at her, but Cat was grinning to herself. He had indeed chosen the wrong girl to pick a fight with.

“So…you have looked at my backside?”, Loki enquired and Cat glanced at him, then she scoffed, “Please. I may not like you, but I can appreciate the goods if I see them.”

“I assure you…”, Loki purred into her ear, “I can show my appreciation of you in the best of ways.”

Damn it, she felt herself blush. It had been far too long since anyone had appreciated her in a way only a bit like what he was suggesting, but that did not mean that she would be so easily confused. So instead she turned to him and winked with a cheeky smile: “You think you can take me? You don’t even know what chocolates I like. Dark chocolate? C’mon, it’s too bitter, I have a legendary sweet tooth. And pink roses, pink? For crying out loud, what do you take me for, a five-year-old wanna-be princess? Lame.”

He took a deep breath, but Cat only smiled at him and entered the conference room. Only to run right into Steve…

“You alright, Cat?”, he asked and she nodded, a lopsided smile on her face, “Yeah, sorry, you know I’m a klutz.”

“You really aren’t.”, he told her with that all too beautiful smile of his and Cat once again realised that she was absolutely smitten with him. Damn it, next to him she felt like a girl who would actually want a bouquet of pink roses.

“Are those…?”, Steve began and then pointed to the flowers and the chocolate, “You…do seem to have an admirer.”

“Yeah.”, Cat grumbled and shot Loki a death-glare over Steve’s shoulder, “But he’s really not my type, so I’ve been giving the roses away. Want one?”

“Ahem…”, Steve blushed and inwardly Cat sighed, but she kept that sigh in her chest and instead offered the box of chocolates, “Today I got this, so I thought we could use it to sweeten up the meeting. Although that chocolate won’t be any less dull than Tony.”

“I heard that, Shorty.”, her brother whacked her over the head and took the box of chocolates from her, all before Steve had the chance to speak up, “Stark, that really is no way to treat a lady.”

“My sister, a lady? And what would you know about that, Capsicle?”, Tony countered with a grin, “You’ve missed the last seventy years.”

“Yes, but still…”, Steve began, however, Tony ignored him. As always.

“You know, if he was not stupid enough to stand with that bunch of misfits, I might actually like your brother.”, Loki mumbled standing next to Cat and she scoffed, “Sure…”

“Pardon me, did you say anything?”, Steve asked and Cat flinched, but then shook her head, “Just talking to myself.”

“Yeah, stop that, Shorty, we have a meeting to start here!”, Tony grinned at her, Cat answered with a glare and directed that same glare then at Loki, who shuddered theatrically and whispered, “Oh, am I scared now. Would you hold me?”

This would be a long, long meeting…

And indeed it was, for even though the chocolates were very popular, the rest of the agenda was utterly dull. Still, Cat would have given anything to have a normal meeting, because this one was anything but normal. Everyone asked her about the flowers and was more interested in her secret admirer than Tony’s agenda (nothing new there), but the more they talked about the flowers, the quieter Steve got, until he was absolutely silent and in spirit was obviously far away, probably the next galaxy. And all the time Loki was commenting, first Natasha’s clothes hugging her figure so nicely and how Cat should consider wearing something like that, then Tony’s incredibly annoying sarcasm Loki found delightfully witty, then Steve’s almost pained expression and the way he was blushing and clenching his jaw at the same time. Cat wanted to help him out of this or at least to shut Loki up, but she could not really do that without making the rest wonder who she was talking to. Mighty fine predicament, alright.

“Why have you not told me that your meetings could be so delightfully awkward?”, Loki asked of her, rounding the table and going unnoticed by the rest of the persons present, “Everyone is palpably unhappy, only trying to flee at the first opportunity. Why have I never thought of torture like this?”

Cat bit her tongue not to say anything, she merely took a deep breath and glanced at Tony to see he was still going on about his budget of the next year. It was dull and thereby some kind of torture, she had to admit that.

“So, what do you say, darling?”, Loki then stopped behind her and leaned down to whisper into her ear, “Should we leave this tedious place and do something much more exciting?”

Balling her fists, Cat hoped that her expression betrayed nothing of the annoyance she felt, but then, to make it all even worse, Loki touched her. Gently traced his finger down from her temple to her jaw, then followed the line he had just laid out with his lips.

That was when Cat had enough. With an angry movement, she swatted him away. But that bastard had anticipated it, because she did not hit him, however, the rest of the Avengers and the other personnel around the table then looked at her.

“Something wrong there, Sis?”, Tony asked and Cat cleared her throat, only for Loki to gleefully say, “How will you explain that, I wonder?”

“Uh…I’m okay.”, Cat then said with just the slightest hint of a stutter, “Was…just a fly.”

“Okay. Anyhoo.”, Tony drawled and went right on with his babbling, but Cat could only hear Loki’s indignant scoff, “A fly? Is that all I am to you?”

If glares could kill, he would have dropped dead on the spot as Cat hit him with the deadliest of glares she could muster, because he was far, far worse than a mere fly, but she could not really say that, not now.

So she just hoped the meeting would be over soon. However, it took another half hour before Tony finally closed the meeting by storming out like the diva she knew him to be and she had to admit, she had absolutely no clue what it had been about. Not even the foggiest. And Loki did not help one bit: “Interesting. How by the Gods were you ever able to defend this world for as long as you have when you waste your time like this?”

“And still, the Avengers beat you.”, Cat mumbled towards him, “What does that say about you?”

Now he was the one to glare at her, but he then quickly smirked again, so quickly it made her frown.

“Uh, Cat? Do you have…a moment?”, she heard Steve ask behind her and so she turned around with a smile that froze a tad when she was reminded that Loki was still there as he said, “This is going to be gloriously awkward. His heart is beating like Sleipnir’s hooves in full gallop. Yet he has not dropped dead yet, interesting.”

Cat quickly glanced at him, hoping against hope that it would shut him up, but Loki merely grinned like a cat who had not only gotten the cream, but the canary as well…and had dipped the canary in the cream before eating it.

“Uh, Cat, you…”, Steve began and then fell silent, but all Cat could have heard anyway was Loki laughing his head off, then gasping in amusement, “Do you see that? He is dying to ask you to his bed!”

She flinched at that, but tried her best to ignore Loki as she asked of the man in front of her: “Yes, Steve, what can I do for you?”

“Would you, you know, maybe…”, he stuttered and she could not help but smile, however, her smile fell when Loki stepped behind her and put his arms around her body, whispering in her ear, “Just think what you could do with him. Oh my, I think even an evening out with you would kill him. Maybe you should be my weapon against the Avengers.”

Cat tried her best to ignore him, tried to clandestinely shove him away, but of course Steve saw her awkwardly move her arm and he asked in concern: “Are you alright?”

“Yeah, sure.”, she nodded with a smile, but inwardly she grimaced. He was such a loveable man, why did Loki have to be here now?!

“Well, what I’m trying to say…”, Steve began anew and Loki let finally go of Cat, but then he stepped between Steve and her, smirking at her as he had to know full well that she had to pretend he was not there, but now all she could see was him, not the man she wanted to see.

“Do you think he will actually say the words?”, Loki mused, cocking his head as if to listen to Steve stuttering helplessly, “You are really remarkable and funny, a friend and… Well, as you are the most interesting woman I ever met, would you…”

“Stop.”, Cat hissed as Loki rolled his eyes at Steve’s words. Then he smirked, stepped aside… and far too late, Cat realised what he had just done.

Crestfallen, Steve stood in front of her, beet-red up to his adorable ears and he gulped, then looked at his feet and mumbled: “Alright. If this is your answer, I’ll just…”

With that he gestured over his shoulder and took off, fled the scene.

“Wait…!”, Cat called after him, but he was already around the next corner.

“My work here is done. For now.”, Loki smiled brightly at her, but Cat snarled at him, “This means war.”

All he did was laugh, then he was gone, poof, just like that. He had just stayed long enough to make sure she would chase Steve away. Bastard!

“Miss Stark?”, someone dumb enough to disturb her now asked her and Cat rounded on him, hissing, “What?”

Vision blinked once, as if to express confusion and she sighed: “Sorry, buddy. Having a bad day.”

“I noticed.”, Vision replied, “You are lacking considerably in concentration and you are irritable.”

“Geez, thank you for spelling it out like that…”, Cat muttered and then turned around, determined to crawl back to her room and hide there, possibly die.

“I find myself concerned.”, Vision said and Cat smiled at him, but bitterly, “Thanks, but I’m not sure you can do much about it.”

“As am I, unfortunately.”, he said and shrugged, “But strange occurrences have amassed themselves over the last five days.”

“Hang on…”, Cat said and came to an abrupt stop, “What did you just say?”

“In the last five days, I have detected curious happenings.”, he explained, but Cat scoffed, “C’mon, please do enlighten me as to what those occurrences have been!”

“Strange readings of the radar equipment, the spectral analysis in the laboratory had malfunctions as if the rays of light had been altered.”

“Altered?”, Cat mumbled to herself and Vision nodded, “Yes. Some of the photons seemed to have jumped into another state of being. Do you know anything about this, Miss Stark?”

But Cat had only heard half of what he had said. Photons, jumped, altered…

“Vision, you’re a genius!”, Cat cheered and jumped up to hug him, thereby practically forcing him to catch her.

“Well, Miss Stark, I do possess the Mind Stone.”, he mumbled in confusion, but Cat placed a quick peck on his cheek, then dropped to the floor and ran off, calling out to him, “Thanks, buddy, I owe you one!”

She did not wait around to see his reaction, she had work to do. As soon as she had entered the workshop, Cat set to work, mumbling to herself: “Quantum entanglement, why hadn’t I thought of that?”

Because that was what it had to be, Loki’s teleportation and cloaking magic had to have left some sort of imprint and if that truly manifested in the entanglement of photons… well, then Cat had an idea on how to counteract his magic. And all that without magic, but good ol’ science.

Alright, so quantum physics was relatively new, but it was science alright and that she could work with.

So, working tirelessly through the night, Cat had soon established that yes, Loki had left a trail of altered photons. That meant one thing: “I got you, you bastard.”

With that knowledge, she made sure to erase all the evidence of her discovery, then she allowed herself a couple of hours of much needed sleep before she had to get to work again in the morning. As per usual, she found a bouquet of flowers next to her bed as well as a box of chocolates, this time it was white chocolate and a bouquet of daisies.

“Sweet, but not good enough, jerk.”, Cat mumbled, then all but dashed from her bed and only took minimal preparations like dressing and breakfast before she went to the workshop, distributing both the flowers and the chocolates on her way. She caught a glimpse of Steve in the hallway once, but he ducked around a corner as soon as he had seen her, pretending that he had not.

“I told you this meant war.”, she grumbled and swore to herself that she would fill Steve in on the details as soon as Loki had been dealt with. Bastard.

In the workshop, she worked all the way through lunch and when she glanced at the clock for the first time, it was almost time for dinner.

And she was almost done. The only thing that remained to be done for her plan to be set in motion was to place all the parts in their respective positions. So Cat got up to do so, but she was interrupted when Loki appeared in front of her.

Damn, now was not the time.

Determinedly Cat ignored him, walked past him and placed the first part where it had to go.

“Catherine.”, he asked and she frowned as she heard the change of tone in his voice. There was no glee, no mirth. With narrowed eyes, Cat placed the second part and then looked at him. He was standing in the middle of the room, his head hung and he merely glanced at her through his long lashes.

“What’s up?”, she asked, “No “darling”, no “love”? One could think you were sick.”

“Not sick.”, Loki told her and followed her merely with his eyes, but he remained in the middle of the room, “Or maybe sick, yes. Lovesick. I am…beaten. At a loss, Catherine.”

“You?”, she snorted with laughter, “Where is L… that guy and what have you done to him? He’d never admit such a weakness.”

“With you I can.”, he told her, then sighed and smiled bitterly, “I have to. See, I have tried to convince you with any ways known to me. The only thing I have not tried to win your heart, is honesty.”

Cat could not do anything but stare at him. Then she had to bite back laughter. Was he really thinking she would buy that absolute crap? After all he had done to her, to her brother, to the whole world, Midgard and Asgard? He had to be utterly daft.

But she forced herself to smile, then seemingly absent-mindedly plant the third part of her plan as she asked him: “Honesty, you? To win my heart?”

“Indeed, darling.”, he said and Cat had to hand it to him, he was good, “You are so different from all the women I have met. So please, tell me: What does it take to win your heart?”

Cat pretended to think about that question for a moment and as she did so, she planted the fourth and final part of her plan.

“What does it take, hmm?”, she spoke slowly, while walking over to her tablet, then she punched in a code and said, “Sorry, nothing you have.”

With a marvellous warbling, the four parts came to life and the surprise and shock on Loki’s face told her that she had succeeded.

“What have you done?”, he asked in anger, showing his real self again, but Cat grinned at him and then hit the alarm button before she replied, “Oh nothing much. You’ll see.”

It did not take them long to storm the workshop, Tony in his suit, Steve with his shield and Natasha with her knives at the ready.

“Shit!”, Tony cursed, “What the hell is he doing here?”

“So you can finally see him.”, Cat sighed, “Good.”

“What have you done?”, Loki repeated his question, glaring burning daggers at Cat.

“I could bore you with the details of quantum entanglement and the Penning trap I set up for you, but that would ask too much of your intellect, I think. So what did I do, bottom line?”, she smiled at him, then growled, “Science, bitch.”

“This is not over.”, Loki threatened, but Cat shrugged, “Maybe not, but my brother has a direct line to Heimdall and hey, I bet the old geezer is locking his eyes on you just about…now.”

“You…trapped him with an Penning trap, Shorty?”, Tony asked her and Cat grinned at her brother, “Sure did. So who’s the genius now?”

“I am, who else.”, he replied and she saw Natasha wink at her, then assume position to guard Loki, but Steve ran to her instead, “Are you alright, Cat?”

“Now I am.”, she laughed, but she saw him retreat almost immediately after she had assured him she was fine. Poor baby.

“We’ll meet again.”, Loki said and then shot a blast of energy at one part of her precious trap, thereby escaping once again, in a cloud of smoke.

“No!”, Cat shouted, “You bastard, come back!”

“So much for your ingenious plan, Sis.”, Tony joked, but she slapped him, only hurting herself as the Mark 45 really was a good model.

“Ouch…”, she mumbled, but Natasha placed a hand on her shoulder and comforted her, “Hey, at least we know he isn’t dead. I never bought the whole heroic-death story anyway. Well done. And that one-liner was a killer.”

At this Cat laughed, but in fact, she was just relieved it was over.

Tony was collecting and examining the parts of her trap, but Steve was retreating, clandestinely sneaking off. Not with her, though.

“Hey, Steve?”, she called after him and he winced, but stopped, “Can I talk to you for a second?”

“Uh, sure.”, he nodded, looking as if he wished to be at the Gates of Hell rather than in front of her.

“When you…talked to me after the meeting…”, Cat began and saw him bite his lip and blush, adorably, “Loki was there.”

At this he gasped in shock, then frowned with anger he really was entitled to.

“He heard…everything.”, Cat hesitantly revealed, “And he was making faces, making fun of you. I barely heard you and I just wanted him to shut up.”

“So…”, Steve mumbled and she smiled, waiting for him to figure it out himself, “You did not tell me to stop? But him?”

“Yeah.”, Cat nodded and added, “And, well, since you never got to finish what you were saying, might I say something instead?”

“Yeah.”, Steve replied, smiling at her, finally showing her that smile again and it stayed there when she asked him, “Would you go out with me?”

“I’d love to.”, he nodded and, in an unexpected touch of bravery, Steve took her hand in his.

“Whoa, time-out there!”, Tony called and glared first at Steve, then Cat, “You are not going out with my baby sister, Cap. You heard me, Sis, you’re not going out with him.”

“Oh yeah?”, she asked, but then hissed with a sweet smile, “Watch me.”

Smiling happily at Steve, Cat led him towards the door and asked, “Should we? I’m starving and I know a wonderful Fifties diner in town. I think you’d like it.”

“With you, definitely.”, Steve nodded, but Tony called behind them, “Oi! Missy!”

“Steve, honey, would you give me a moment to handle this?”, Cat asked him and he chuckled, a touch of pink on his cheeks, but Cat then, taking a deep breath, turned around to Tony and said, matter-of-factly, “Loki has followed me for the last five days. So, Brother dearest, I’ve had it with egotistical jerks. For once, I’d like to spend time with a real man. So I’m going out with Steve, deal with it.”

Cat spun around, grabbed Steve’s hand and left the workshop, not waiting for Tony’s reaction.

Steve beside her coughed awkwardly, blushing, and then mumbled: “A real man…wow, thank you.”

“Anytime.”, Cat laughed and got to the tips of her toes to kiss him on the cheek, “Anytime, honey.”


End file.
